Well after 69 games, my season finally ended on Saturday. Well, if we're being pedantic it was actually 67 games and 50 minutes - with one game being abandoned after 40 minutes, and me only catching the final 10 minutes of Weymouth's FA Cup tie with Bognor Regis. Although that was enough to see the Terras fight back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw and a replay, which they would go on to win 4-1.

It really dosen't seem so long ago the Weymouth pies travelled up to Sheffield back in August for that first league game of the season. At the time, it didn't seem a bad result. We all naturally assumed the Blades would be challenging for promotion, although as it turned out they spent much of the season, like us - fighting relegation, until their remarkable recovery late on.

I have listed all the games I attended, and after that I've done my own little awards section. I'll start off now though by saying that the most amazing experience was travelling to Turin for Juventus v Genoa. I did a blog for the Italian Magpies website on that weekend if you wish to read it: http://www.italianmagpies.com/2013/11/my-birthday-surprise-juventus.html

That game would probably win all of the awards to be honest, so those awards are for the other games.

So, here are the 69 matches I attended over the course of the season:

1. Portland United 0-4 Weymouth - Pre Season Friendly (20.7.13)

2. Portland United 0-5 Dorchester Town - Pre season Friendly (27.7.13)

3. Sheffield United 2-1 Notts County - League One (2.8.13)

4. Dorchester Town 1-1 Weymouth - Pre Season Friendly (3.8.13)

5. Weymouth Reserves 3-3 Poole Borough - Dorset Premier League (10.8.13)

6. Weymouth Reserves 5-1 Swanage Town & Herston - Dorset Premier League (14.8.13)

7. Weymouth Reserves 2-2 Merley Cobham Sports - Dorset Premier League (17.8.13)

8. Weymouth 2-0 Frome Town - Southern Premier League (20.8.13)

9. Weymouth 3-0 Redditch United - Southern Premier League (24.8.13)

10. Poole Town 2-2 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (26.8.13)

11. Weymouth 1-1 Cambridge City - Southern Premier League (31.8.13)

12. Weymouth Reserves 3-1 Holt United - Dorset Premier League (7.9.13)

13. Fareham Town 0-1 Weymouth - FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round (14.8.13)

14. Weymouth 2-1 AFC Totton - Southern Premier League (17.8.13)

15. Weymouth 0-3 Hemel Hempstead Town - Southern Premier League (21.9.13)

16. Weymouth 2-2 Bognor Regis Town - FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round (28.9.13) - I was having an induction day for a job at Sainsbury's, so only got out in time to see the final 10 minutes or. We scored twice in those ten minutes to earn a replay!

17. Bristol Rovers 1-3 Fleetwood Town - League Two (5.10.13)

18. Cirencester Town 1-2 Weymouth - FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round (12.10.13)

19. Swindon Town 2-0 Notts County - League One (18.10.13)

20. Weymouth 1-0 Bridgwater Town - FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round (19.10.13)

21. Bashley 0-5 Weymouth - Red Insure Cup 1st Round

22. Juventus 2-0 Genoa - Serie A (27.10.13) As you do...

23. Weymouth 3-0 Shaftesbury Town - Dorset Senior Cup 2nd Round (29.10.13)

24. Weymouth Reserves 3-1 Sherborne Town Reserves - Dorset Premier League (2.11.13)

25. AFC Totton 0-1 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (5.11.13)

26. Weymouth 1-3 Hungerford Town - Southern Premier League (9.11.13)

27. Weymouth Reserves 5-1 Hamworthy United Reserves - Dorset Premier League (16.11.13)

28. Weymouth 4-0 Poole Town - Red Insure Cup 2nd Round (20.11.13)

29. Weymouth 2-1 Arlesey Town - Southern Premier League (23.11.13)

30. Weymouth 4-1 Chippenham Town - Southern Premier League (26.11.13)

31. Dorchester Town 0-0 Eastbourne Borough - Skrill South (30.11.13)

32. Weymouth 4-0 Bridport Town - Dorset Senior Cup Quarter Final (3.12.13)

33. Weymouth 0-3 St Albans City - Southern Premier League (7.12.13)

34. Banbury United 0-0 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (14.12.13)

35. Weymouth 4-1 Bedford Town - Southern Premier League (21.12.13)

36. Weymouth 0-3 Poole Town - Southern Premier League (26.12.13)

37. Frome Town 1-2 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (28.12.13)

38. Notts County 2-1 Sheffield United - League One (11.1.14)

39. Weymouth 1-2 Tiverton Town - Red Insure Cup 3rd Round (14.1.14)

40. Weymouth Reserves 2-0 Shaftesbury Town - Dorset Premier League (18.1.14)

41. Chippenham Town 2-1 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (25.1.14)

42. Bashley 1-2 Weymouth Abandoned after 40 minutes due to power cut - Southern Premier League (28.1.14)

43. Weymouth 0-5 Stourbridge - Southern Premier League (1.2.14)

44. Weymouth 3-2 Bideford AFC - Southern Premier League (4.2.14)

45. St Albans City 3-0 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (8.2.14)

46. Dorchester Town 3-2 Bromley - Skrill South (15.2.14)

47. Weymouth Reserves 0-1 Hamworthy Recreation - Dorset Premier League (22.2.14)

48. Weymouth 2-4 Hamworthy United - Dorset Senior Cup Semi Final (25.2.14)

49. Weymouth 2-2 Biggleswade Town - Southern Premier League (1.3.14)

50. Weymouth 2-4 Chesham United - Southern Premier League (4.3.14)

51. Hemel Hempstead Town 4-1 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (8.3.14)

52. Weymouth 2-0 Bashley - Southern Premier League (15.3.14)

53. Bashley 0-3 Weymouth - Southern Premier League (18.3.14)

54. Burnham 1-3 Weymouth - Southern Premier League - (22.3.14)

55. Weymouth 2-1 Burnham - Southern Premier League (25.3.14)

56. Weymouth Reserves 1-1 Wareham Rangers - Dorset Premier League (26.3.14)

57. Weymouth 1-1 Hitchin Town - Southern Premier League (29.3.14)

58. Brentford 3-1 Notts County - League One (5.4.14)

59. Weymouth 1-2 St Neots Town - Southern Premier League (12.4.14)

60. Weymouth 0-1 Banbury United - Southern Premier League (15.4.14)

61. Bristol City 2-1 Notts County - League One (18.4.14)

62. Weymouth Reserves 5-0 Blandford United - Southern Premier League (19.4.14)

63. Weymouth 2-5 Truro City - Southern Premier League (21.4.14)

64. Weymouth Reserves 3-2 Bridport Town - Dorset Premier League (28.4.14)

65. Sainsburys 2-2 Morrisons (Morrisons won 4-2 on pens) - Local supermarket charity match (27.4.14)

66. Hamworthy Recreation 0-0 Portland United AET (Hamworthy won 6-5 on pens) - Dorset Premier League Cup Final (30.4.14)

67. Oldham Athletic 1-1 Notts County - League One (3.5.14)

68. Portland United 4-1 Merley Cobham Sports - Dorset Premier League (10.5.14)

69. Portland United Reserves 2-0 Blandford United Reserves - Dorset Senior League (17.5.14)

Awards

Best 3 games in no particular order:

Weymouth 3-2 Bideford

It was an awful night for football. Gail force winds and heavy, driving wind battered the south coast, and made playing a passing game impossible. So this game became a real war of attrition, and in the end Weymouth pulled off one of their best results of the season. The game turned out to be possibly the most entertaining the 363 in attendance saw at the Bob Lucas Stadium all season.

At the time. Weymouth had suffered 5-0 loss at home to Stourbridge 3 days earlier, while the visitors were having a remarkable season, and went into the game occupying the final play-off spot in 5th place.

Weymouth started with the wind in their backs, and took the lead 15 minutes in when George Rigg fired into the bottom corner from 25 yards out. The wind and rain doing nothing to help the Bideford keeper, who moments earlier had ended up saving one of his own goal kicks which had been blown straight back at him!

Typically though, Weymouth immediatly pressed the self destruct button. From the restart they gave away a free kick halfway inside their own half. The ball was sent into the penalty area and headed against the crossbar, before falling to Sean Downing who poked it home to pull Biddy level.

In the second half, the weather was not quite as bad but still on and off. Weymouth re-took the lead seven minutes into the second half with a deadly counter attack. The ball was cleared and it broke to Niall Thompson on the left wing, who used his incredible pace to run half the length of the pitch, before sending in a cross which ended up being assisted by the wind. It fell to George Rigg, who had time and space to bring the ball down before calmly slotting home.

Then just after the hour, it was 3-1. Weymouth breaking up play in the middle of the pitch, and a hopefull punt forwards ended up sending top scorer Stewart Yetton through one on one with the keeper. He slotted it under the on rushing keeper into the net, sending the home crowd mad.

The action wasn't over yet. With just a few minutes left on the clock, Jake Green went in hard on a Bideford player. The Bideford team reacted, and before long there was a full on 22 man brawl. When the dust had settled, Jake Green was sent off. And from the resulting free kick, former Terra Ben Gerring scored from close range to give Bideford hope. But within a couple of seconds they shot themselves in the foot. As Bideford's Rab Farkins attempted to retrieve the ball, he stamped on keeper Jason Matthews, and he was given his marching order.

Bideford threw the kitchen sink at us for what seemed like 10 minutes of added time, but the Terras dug deep, and held on to secure one of their best 3 point hauls of the season.

Match Highlights -

Weymouth 2-4 Chesham United

It looked like it should be a fairly easy win for Chesham, and the scoreline suggests it was. Weymouth were in poor form, while Chesham were in the middle of what became a 15 match winning run which very nearly won them the title.

And in the first half, it looked like it would be straightforward, as three tap ins from one of the league's top marksman Chirstopher Dillon gave the Generals a 3-0 half time lead. Weymouth's defence not really turning up for the first 45 minutes. And but for a couple of good saves from player-manager Jason Matthews, it could have been even more.

The second half however, was very different.

Just three minutes into the second half, from the Terras first shot on target - George Rigg scored one of the goals of the season. He was given the ball in space, and he let fly from 30 yards, finding the top corner of the net. A fantastic strike, which really lifted the home fans and gave us a small glimour of hope.

That hope, turned to real belief just before the hour mark, when Ben Joyce latched onto a hopefull punt forwards in behind the Chesham defence. He played it square to Stewart Yetton, who passed it into the net.

The title chasing visitors were rattled. The intensity which had been there in the first half had gone, as they spent much of the second half camped in their own final third of the pitch.

Stewart Yetton went close to levelling the scores when the ball was crossed in, but his header was straight at the Chesham keeper. He also put one just wide while Ben Joyce forced the keeper into a diving save.

But as the Terras pushed for an equaliser, naturally - they were leaving themselves severely exposed at the back. On 70 minutes, they were made to pay when a long ball forwards sent Drew Roberts through on the left wing. He crossed for Potton who slotted home.

In the end Weymouth ended the night with nothing, but in the second half, for long periods they played the promotion chasers off the park, and with the number of chances they had, were perhaps unlucky not to have nicked something in the end.

Highlights -

Notts County 2-1 Sheffield United

I was actually the lucky voter in Notts' goal of the month compeition for October, and the prize was two tickets to a home game of my choice. We chose this game. A bit of a grudge match, and at the time, a massive relegation six pointer.

It was the biggest crowd of the season at Meadow Lane, and tensions were running high. Notts players seemed to be just as nervous as we all were, as we started in the worst possible way - falling behind with barely two minutes on the clock. Connor Coady played a quick one two with Chris Porter on the edge of our penalty area which opened up the defence, and allowed Coady to finish cooly into the bottom corner, sending the big United following wild.

The pre-match atmosphere had been electric from both sides, but if anything, the Notts fans just got louder, as they tried to get the team going. But Notts just couldn't get going, and Coady nearly doubled the Blades lead when he was fed into space, but he put the ball wide.

Jamal Campbell-Ryce then went close - cutting inside two players before curling narrowly wide.

It was end-to-end, and United again went close when a corner was only half cleared, and Doyle fired over the bar.

Notts though gradually got into their stride, and a Campbell-Ryce cross just evaded the head of big Enoch Showumni. But a few minutes later, the two combined to pull the Magpies level.

Mark Fotheringham played an inch perfect pass to Campbell-Ryce on the right wing. He beat his man, and crossed for Showumni, who managed to chest the ball home to haul the Magpies level.

United almost re-took the lead when Coady's shot from a corner appeared to be deflected away by Showumni's hand, but the ref waved play on despite big appeals from United.

There was another desperate cry for handball from the United players and fans a few minutes later, but nothing was given, and the home fans took to mocking the visitors with cries of "handball!" every time a United player touched the ball. Even when Matt Hill picked the ball up to take a throw in, the Kop sarcastically screamed for handball. One of those moments when you have to have been there to really see the funny side of it. Great laugh.

Half time provided a much needed breather. The second half was to be a big 45 minutes. It was a much tighter affair, but Notts simply wanted it more - and their desire to fight for every single loose ball and never let United settle proved to be the difference.

Twenty Minutes from time, Notts landed a telling blow. Alan Sheehan delivered a dangerous cross to the back post, where Mark Fotheringham was in space. It looked like he just had to direct the ball goalwards to give the Magpies the lead.

He did, but the keeper pulled off an outstanding save, but the danger wasen't cleared. Meadow Lane held it's breath, and at the second attempt, Fotheringham smashed the ball into the roof of the net, to send Meadow Lane into raptures, the Notts team jumping into the crowd to celebrate.

Straight down the other end, United appealed desperatly for a penalty, but Tony McMahon was booked for a pretty blatent dive.

Fifteen minutes from time the visitors should have equalised, when McGinn tricked his way into the penalty area, but with only Bart Bialkowski to beat, he curled his effort miles wide.

Notts held on to secure one of their best results of the season, and a first victory over the Blades for 20odd years. Extra special for me with it being a rare trip to Meadow Lane. A brilliant day, and a proper ding-dong relegation battle. Obviously in the end Sheffield United staged a remarkable recovery in March and April to finish 7th, but back in January, they were right in the thick of it just like us. The celebrations at the end told you all you needed to know.

Worst 3 games:

Dorchester Town 0-0 Eastbourne Borough

Dorchester are Weymouth's main rivals these days, and normally I wouldn't lower myself to going to watch them. But to be honest I'll watch any football, and as it was the only local game on that day, I went along. Obviously, I supported Eastbourne, and in truth I expected them to win. They were sitting just outside the play-offs, while Dorchester had been down the bottom all season, and eventually finished bottom of the table.

What I ended up seeing, was a game in which next to nothing happened apart from a couple of dissalowed goals, and my then boss coming on for 5 minutes and managing to get booked right in front of me. A miserable day compounded by Notts losing, and by hearing the laughs from Dorchester fans as news filtered through of Weymouth's 7-0 capitulation up at Stourbridge. A very cold, dull, miserable day!

"Highlights" -

Hamworthy Recreation 0-0 Portland United

Dorset league football is usually a good laugh, and despite the standard, is normally pretty entertaining and end-to-end. The Dorset premier league cup final wasn't.

League champions Portland faced 4th placed Hamworthy Recreation, and played out 120 of the dullest minutes the 202 of us in attendance will probably ever witness. The best chance of the game came in just the 5th minute, when a Portland header was brilliantly tipped wide by the Hamworthy keeper.

It was he who went on to be the hero in the penalty shoot-out, saving 2 Portland penalties before scoring the winning penalty himself.

Weymouth Reserves 0-1 Hamworthy Recreation

Maybe it's just something about Hamworthy Rec?

At the time, this was 1st v 2nd in the Dorset Premier League, but on a very windy, cold day - it was Hamworthy's more physical prescence which proved the difference.

The only goal of the game came near the end of a largly uneventfull first half, when a cross was spilt by the Weymouth keeper Ryan Park, and a Hamworthy player was on hand to pick up the pieces.

Ryan Park did make up for his error making a couple of fine saves towards the end of the game, but Weymouth never really looked like getting back into it, nor did the visitors really look like adding to their lead, as the game petered out into a stop start midfield battle.

Top 10 goals:

10. Stefan Brown - HUNGERFORD @ Weymouth

I'll start with an opposition goal, from a game against Hungerford Town back at the beggining of November, when both sides were just a few points off the play-offs.

For the first half hour, Weymouth played some of their best football of the season. Scott Walker's 9th minute goal had them in front, but they could have had 3 or 4 by the time Stefan Brown changed the game on 32 minutes.

He latched onto a long hopefull punt forwards, cut inside, and unleashed a thunderbolt from 20 yards which flew into top corner of the net, just clipping the underside of the crossbar on it's way in.

The goal took the wind out of Weymouth's sails, and they went to lose the game 3-1.

9. Luke Burbridge - WEYMOUTH @ Poole

The August bank holiday visit to Poole Town was already a big game, despite it being only the 4th of the season. Both sides had won their opening 3 games of the season, and both were among the favourites to be challenging for promotion.

There was added spice, with winger Luke Burbridge and defender Michael Walker lining up for Weymouth, having both been part of Poole's South & West division title winning team the previous season, the latter captaining the side.

1053 were there on a glorious sunny day, and around 600 were Weymouth fans. They saw Stewart Yetton open the scoring right on the stroke of half time from a corner.

But it was in the second half where the game really came to life.

First, Poole had Steve Devlin sent off for a high boot just four minutes into the second half. But it seemed to spark Poole into life, and Richard Gillespie fired the hosts level just before the hour mark.

Weymouth were stunned, and just four minutes later, the ten men took the lead; and again, it was Richard Gillespie providing a cool finish bringing delight to the home fans.

Weymouth looked out of ideas, but then Poole shot themselves in the foot again. Poole's goalkeeper found himself being yellow carded for time wasting on 65 minutes, and when the ref showed him the card, he gave the ref a sarcastic slap on the cheek. There was only going to be one outcome to that, a second yellow card.

The expected Weymouth onslaught never really materialised, with Poole keeping everyone back but always looking a threat on the counter. It took a moment of individual brilliance from the former Poole man Luke Burbridge to earn the Terras a point.

He found himself with the ball on the right. He went down the line, and cut inside the defender before lashing a 20 yard shot past the substitute keeper with around 10 minutes to go.

Despite it being against his former club, he jumped into the crowd to celebrate. Ironically, that was probably Burbridge's best performance in a Weymouth shirt. He became unhappy at the club and completed a switch back to Poole towards the end of the season.

8. George Rigg - WEYMOUTH v Chesham

This game and goal has already been mentioned as one of my three favourite games, but I think the goal that sparked what was very nearly a remarkable comeback deserves another look. He's given the ball in space, flicks it up, and smashes it into the top corner from all of 30 yards, to get the Terras back into the game.

7. Steve Davis - BEDFORD @ Weymouth

Another opposition goal this time. Bedford travelled to Weymouth just before Christmas having not won a game since September (they wouldn't actually win another game until early April). They were struggling with severe financial problems, and on a horrible wet day at the Bob Lucas Stadium, they looked desperate to see the game called off.

Sadly for them the game went ahead, and first half goals from Luke Burbridge and Stewart Yetton had Weymouth in command at the break. But the rain was unrelenting, and at half time it took a mamoth effort from the ground staff, directors, substitutes, and fans to fork the pitch so that the match could be completed.

Another goal each for Yetton and Burbridge had Weymouth 4-0 up, but from the restart at 4-0, came the goal of the game.

The ball was played to Bedford's number 7 Steve Davis on the right wing. He weaved his way past 4 players in field and into the box before firing hard into the top of the net, earning applause from even the home fans.

A stunning solo goal, which is especially rare at this level.

6. Isaac Vassell - WEYMOUTH v Bashley (away)

Bashley spent the whole season near the bottom of the table, thanks to serious financial issues which at one point threatened to stop the club even completing the season.

Weymouth were therefore expected to beat them comfortably. The two sides had met in the league at the Bob Lucas Stadium just 3 days earlier, and Weymouth won 2-0 against a spirited Bashley side who would have felt hard done by.

This 3-0 win however was far more convincing from Weymouth.

Stewart Yetton had given them the lead near half time from the penalty spot, and he then nodded home from a corner early in the second half.

But it was young Isaac Vassell who stole the show, with his first goal for the club. He had been signed on loan from Plymouth Argyle, and as the nephew of former England international Darius, he has a lot to live up to.

He showed what he's capable of here though, showing great persistence to win the ball on the left halfway inside the Bashley half, before cutting inside, and firing an unstoppable shot beyond the keeper from 30 yards.

The shot was so powerfull,it actually hit the wall behind the goal and bounced back out, and it happened so quickly it took a few people a few seconds to realise it had gone in.

A superb goal to seal all 3 points on the road for the Terras.

5. Stewart Yetton - WEYMOUTH @ Frome Town (second goal)

The final game of 2013 took Weymouth to struggling Frome Town. Frome had not won a home game since March, while Weymouth had recently sacked manager Brendon king along with his assistant - veteran striker Matt Groves, who had now joined Frome Town.

For the most part, it was a fairly dull game on a poor pitch which meant both sides had to resort to long ball tactics.

Typically, Matt Groves gave Frome a deserved lead just shy of the hour mark. Ben Wood had also started the season at Weymouth, so we knew he had a dangerously long throw on him. How ironic then that a Ben Wood long throw caused chaos in the Weymouth defence, and it all ended with Matt Groves smashing the ball home from no more than a couple of yards out.

With twenty minutes to go, Weymouth had still created next to nothing, so they threw on big Nathan Walker up front as a target man.

It soon paid dividends. Walker's flick on fell to Yetton, who calmly fired beyond the keeper from the edge of the box to level things up.

Weymouth now sensed all three points, and it was Yetton's second goal which really lit the game up.

Luke Winsper played a perfect through ball into Yetton, who curled a shot over the onrushing keepers, and just under the crossbar - causing absolute carnage among the travelling supporters - as the players and fans celebrated together. An amazing turnaround. Weymouth ended up picking up 3 points from a game where, with 15 minutes left, even a point looked like being a long shot.

Sadly there is no footage of this goal, but those of us who were there won't forget this goal, or the celebrations that followed in a hurry.

4. Isaac Vassell - WEYMOUTH v Hitchin Town

Despite there being seven games to go, with the way the Southern League had worked out - neither of these sides had really had anything to play for for quite a while by the time they met at the end of March. Both well out of the race for the play-offs, but well clear of any relegation worries.

And for the majority of this game it felt like an end of season friendly, with very little action for the crowd to get their teeth into.

Hitchin had taken the lead on 64 minutes when Matt Lench latched onto a through ball, and managed to just get it over the on rushing Jason Matthews.

Weymouth rarely threatened, and it looked like being another home defeat for the Terras until once again, young Isaac Vassell showed he showed he is more than capable of emulating Darius, with a moment of brilliance on 72 minutes.

A long ball forward into the box was only half cleared by the Hitchin defence into space. Isaac Vassell slipped, but managed to regain his balance quickly. He picked the ball up on the edge of the D, took it wide, before curling a wonderfull shot into the top corner from 25 yards, to pull the Terras back on level terms.

3. Stewart Yetton - WEYMOUTH @ Cirencester (second goal)

The 3rd qualifying round draw wasen't too kind to Weymouth - taking them to South & west division (one league below) high flyers Cirencester.

Cirencester had only lost one game all season going into this one, and were scoring goals for fun - smashing Didcot Town 7-1 four days earlier. We knew it would probably take something special to win this tie, and that's exacly what happened.

Around 200-250 Weymouth fans were there to cheer the team on, and they started well - forcing a string of corners and hitting the crossbar in the first 10 minutes.

On 20 minutes, the Terras made a deserved breakthrough, when Luke Burbridge raced to the by-line, and pulled it back for Yetton in the centre of the area. He fired home under the keeper to put Weymouth 1-0 up. But this was not the goal I'm awarding my 3rd best of the season too.

Cirencester equalised early in the second half when a corner was met by Hollands, whose towering header gave Jason Matthews no chance, and hauled the hosts level.

Now we had a real cup tie on our hands, and Weymouth needed to dig deep. And on the hour mark, came a moment of magic.

Defender Sam Poole played a 25 yard ball into Stewart Yetton, who found himself on the left channel. The ball was almost spot on, and Yetton was able to chest the ball down, and unleash a first-time volley that flew into the top corner from all of 30 yards, sending the travelling fans mad.

It proved to be the difference between the two sides, as Weymouth progressed to the final qualifying round, where they were eventualy beaten at home by Conference club Braintree Town.

Sadly, the Cirencester game was not filmed, so only those of us who were there will know just how special a goal it was. It was a goal worthy of winning any football match at any level. Simply stunning.

2.

Enoch Showumni - NOTTS @ Sheffield United

The season didn't get off to the best of starts for Notts, who had to play the vast majority of the opening game at Brammal Lane with 10 men after the dismissal of Gary Liddle. But for around ten minutes in the second half, we had hope of achieving a result, thanks to Enoch Showumni.

Showumni came on 10 minutes into the second half as a big target man, and within a minute, with his first touch of the ball, he made his mark.

A long goal kick from Bialkowski was chested down by Enoch. He held off his marker Harry Maguire - managing to out muscle him and create space for a shot. He turned, and smashed it hard and low into the bottom corner out of reach of the dispearing Long, to haul the Magpies level, and kick off wild celebrations in the away end. A fantastic moment, which was worth the long drive up from Dorset on it's own.

1.

Alan Sheenan - NOTTS v Oldham

To Notts fans, this needs no explanation at all. I don't think I've ever celebrated a goal so much, or found any penalty so hard to watch.

15 minutes to go at Oldham, 1-0 down and at that point heading down to league 2.

Jamal Campbell-Ryce picks the ball up in space and drives towards the penalty area. He crosses it, and it deflects off of Johnathan Grounds' hand. Over 3500 Notts fans appeal in unison for handball, and it what seems like slow motion, the ref points to the spot.

The fella stood next to me instantly grabs hold of me, and I turn away in disbelief. This is it, Alan Sheehan has the weight of an entire "community" resting on his shoulders.

If he's nervous nervous, he certaintly dosen't show it. He blasts it into the top right corner. The keeper goes the right way, but it's too powerfull, and over 3500 County fans are sent wild. That goal takes us out of the bottom 4 on goal difference.

Within a couple of minutes we're celebrating again as news of a Bradford equaliser at Tranmere filters through, and then we start to smell survival as Adam Lockwood is sent off for hauling Campbell-Ryce to the ground.

Then, news comes through that Bradford are winning at 10 man Tranmere, and we know we've pulled off the greatest of great escapes.

Part of me still can't believe we did it. Six weeks before the end of the season - ironically after defeat at Tranmere, even Shaun Derry admitted that the fat lady was starting to hum, but he still refused to give up, as did some fans. And we did it. One of the most amazing days ever.

Other Highlights

Yetton takes the gloves

In Weymouth's first pre-season friendly away to Dorset Premier League club Portland United, Jason Matthews played the first half in goal, while second choice keeper Simon Evans came out for the second half.

Unfortunatly, Simon landed awkwardly on his knee after claiming a cross within a minute of the second half kicking off, and he ended up missing the whole season.

I was stood right next to the dugout, and while everyone wondered who would go in goal, Stewart Yetton wandered over. He had been signed as a striker, and ended up being our top scorer netting more than 30 goals over the course of the season.

He simply said "Throw me the gloves, I'll go in". Everyone just looked at him, and he was asked if he'd been in goal before, to which he replied "yeah I've done it once before".

Everyone laughed, and he played the second half in goal. And he kept a clean sheet! In truth he didn't have anything to do apart from catch a couple of crosses and take a few goal kicks, but he still got ironic chants of "Stewart Yetton Weymouth's number one!".

You don't know what your doing!

There's usually a reason why officials in the Dorset Premier League are officiating at that level, and they're usually pretty good at showing it.

But it's not an exageration to say that the officials of Weymouth Reserves v Swanage Town & Herston put on one of the worst performances I've ever seen.

For one, one of the linesman seemed to have no understanding whatsoever of the offside rule. He constantly flagged players who were not offside offside, and kept his flag down when everyone stopped assuming that a player actually was offside!

Also, when the Swanage manager went to make a substitution - it took him about 3 minutes to actually attract the attention of the officials so he could make that change.

But it was towards the end of the game where they really showed their incompetence.

A Swanage player slid in hard near the touchline, got none of the ball, but got all of the man.

The referee seemed to see nothing wrong with this, and actually gave Swanage a throw in!

Naturally, the whole Weymouth team, and the crowd went mad. So thinking he'd got the throw in the wrong way round, the ref changed his mind and gave it the other way.

Still the home side kept shouting at him, and he ended up having to speak to his other linesman to find out what the problem was. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that trying to break someones leg is only a yellow card offence!

Poole's keeper has a nightmare

The Red Insure Cup is basically the Johnstone's Paint Trophy of the Southern League, only the final isn't played at Wembley - meaning even less people are interested in it.

Poole fielded what was pretty much a reserve side, while Weymouth had quite a strong side out.

The Terras won 4-0 - Mark Ford scoring all four, but it was the performance of Poole's second choice keeper which was the main talking point.

Almost all of his goal kicks were wayward - ending up in one stand or another, and his communications with his defence left a lot to be desired, and ended up contributing to one of the goals.

Also, he managed to let a fairly weak effort between his legs at one point, but managed to recover in time to get the ball away.

The banter he was getting from us fans behind the goal probably didn't help his confidence, but we couldn't help but laugh ourselves. The longer the game went on, the worse it got for him, until his own manager ended up humiliating him a bit more by bringing him off to be replaced by a lad who looked like he was still in school 10 minutes from time.

Old man, what's the score?

When Weymouth scored two late goals to claim an admittedly undeserved victory at Frome Town back in December, it was all too much for one chap.

As the Weymouth fans celebrated an unlikely win, one oldish looking chap came over and, probably a bit drunk - began pushing a few people about.

He declared himself "Frome Town's biggest fan" (not that big a deal when you only have 4 fans), and went on into a massive rant about how scummy our club was, how scummy our fans were, and how we had cheated our way to winning that game.

Ofcourse the Weymouth fans didn't really pay too much attention to what the fella had to say. Instead, all he got in reply were chants of "old man old man what's the score?", "one nil up and you f****d it up", etc.

Another moment where you really had to be there to see just how funny it was. Fantastic.

Monsoon conditions

Gail force winds, heavy rain, and hail storms turned the game between Chippenham Town and Weymouth into a farce back in January.

It got to the point where the players could barely keep their eyes open, while the fans behind the goal hid under a big flag to keep dry.

Incredibly, the ref didn't take the players off. Jason Matthews struggled to get the ball to stay still so he could take his goal kicks, and he ended up having to catch one of his own kicks which flew straight back at him in the wind. The referee actually blew for an indirect free-kick at this point, but after some persuasion, decided to just let Matthews re-take the goal kick.

Weymouth were kicking into the wind during the first half, and try as they might, they found it impossible to get out of their own half.

Despite going in at the break 1-0 down, most of us were confident we could turn it around in the second half as we would have the wind behind us.

But, as is our luck - we came out for the second half in bright sunshine with no wind at all!

See for yourself just how bad conditions got during that first half:

Dorchester's result of the season

A severe overnight strom had damaged parts of Weymouth's ground and forced the postponment of their home game against Banbury. But Dorchester's game was on, so for the second time this season I went "over the hill".

I ended up stood with a couple of Banbury fans who were staying in Weymouth for the weekend, and had had the same idea as me.

Ofcourse, I cheered on Bromley, and I have to admit I expected them to win the game fairly comfortably. At the time, Dorchester were still rock bottom, but not a million miles off of safety, while Bromley had a fairly healthy cushion over second placed Eastleigh at the top of the table.

But what I saw, was one of the biggest shocks of the season.

Bromley struggled to get used to an awful pitch, while Dorchester are used to playing on that surface, so actually held their own throughout the first half. They took the lead right on the stroke of half time when Nathan Craig fired a free kick into the bottom right hand corner.

We expected to see an onslaight from Bromley at the start of the second half but it never happened. The league leaders simply could not get going. Credit must go to Dorchester, who chased every ball and didn't let Bromley settle at all. They got stuck in.

On 51 minutes, we all began to sense that a real shock on the cards when Ashley Yeoman finished from close range to double the hosts lead.

Dorchester were beggining to look comfortable, but eight minutes from time, having created next to nothing, Bromley got back into it. A free kick was sent deep into the Dorchester penalty area. It bounced around a bit, before Jay May eventually fired home to give the league leaders hope.

Suddenly, it was all Bromley, and they began to throw more and more players forwards, while Dorchester sat deeper and deeper.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Louis Dennis curled an effort into the top corner after a driving run into the box, sparking jubilant scenes among the travelling support and on the Bromley bench. It looked as though they'd pulled it out of the fire.

But the game still wasn't over, and Bromley now began to sense what had appeared to be an unlikely 3 points. They continued to throw players forward, and had a penalty appeal turned down. But from that penalty claim, in the 90th minute of the game, Dorchester counter attacked. The ball was sent forwards and it was eventually given to Jamie Gleeson, who was unmarked in the box, to fire home and seal a fantastic 3 points for the bottom club.

As much as I hate to say it, full credit to Dorchester that day. They deserved the win, and it was an unbeleavable finale to a game that appeared to be petering out a bit. Just glad it didn't spark a great escape!

Highlights -

The supermarket derby

I ended up watching a game at Dorchester yet again in April. This time it was a charity game between the staff of two Weymouth supermarkets - Morrisons and Sainsburys. A couple of my mates were playing so I went along.

Ofcourse, it was a family affair. All the players families were there, but I was pleasently surprised to see a really entertaining, end-to-end game. The Morrisons supporters even had a few songs.

I think it's fair to say that the Morrisons players had a higher BMI than the Sainsbury's boys, but for big lads they were pretty quick, and were the better side.

They took the lead early on from a corner, but Sainsbury's equalised in spectacular fashion - when one of their lads decided to have a go from just inside his own half. Sure enough, the wind took the ball beyond the keeper and into the net, sparking scenes of wild celebration on the Sainsbury's bench.

But within a couple of minutes, Morrisons re-took the lead, and that was the way it stayed at half time.

As the second half progressed, both sets of players became tired, so the game became more and more stretched. Sainsbury's keeper pulled off 3 or 4 fantastic saves, and in the end Sainsbury's equalised on the counter attack midway through the half.

It went to penalties. Morrisons scored all 4 of theirs, while one Sainsbury's lad put his effort into the Tesco carpark, and the other was saved by the Morrisons keeper - making up for his first half error of judgement.

It was a really entertaining afternoon, a good laugh, and it raised over £600 to be split between two local charities.

There have been many other good times this season. Every Notts match is a great laugh whatever the result, our fans are pretty good at finding something to laugh at even when things are going badly. Just look at the video of our fans at Rotherham for proof of that.

I can't lie, I expected a bit more from Weymouth this season, but after years of fighting relegation, another midtable finish is far from a disaster.

A word for the reserves too - who had a superb season, finishing 2nd in the Dorset Premier League with the divisions best home record. They're always really good to watch, and it's always a good laugh.

I've enjoyed every game really, even in defeat we've had many great laughs. There's nothing else I'd rather do on a Saturday, All's I can say is bring on pre-season!